Our Holy Chutzpah

Introduction: As we mentioned in the previous
letter, we have entered a season in which we
turn inward. During this season, it is
appropriate to rediscover our inner strengths
and develop them, so that we can fulfill the
unique and universal mission of our people.
According to Jewish tradition, one of the
special strengths of our people is our
“chutzpah” - a Jewish term which refers to bold,
brazen, or audacious behavior. Jewish tradition
teaches, however, that each of our special
strengths, including chutzpah, can be used in
holy or unholy ways, and in a future letter,
God-willing, we will discuss “unholy” chutzpah.
In this letter, we will discuss the “holy”
chutzpah which has helped to preserve our people
and our heritage:

Dear Friends,

The Midrash describes those with chutzpah as
chatzufin, and it states: The most
chatzufin among the nations are the People of
Israel (Exodus Rabbah 42:9). The Midrash
then cites the following teaching which explains
how this statement is actually a compliment to
the People of Israel, as this chutzpah later
enabled them to defy those who threatened them
with death at the stake if they did not abandon
the Torah:

Rabbi Yitzchak the son of Radifa said in the
name of Rabbi Ami: Do you think the above
statement is derogatory? It actually praises
them, as they say, “To be a Jew or the stake!”

Yes, we are a people with chutzpah; thus, we
were able to defy the powerful oppressors who
tried to force us to abandon the faith and path
of the Torah. We realized that the Torah is the
raison d’etre of our people; thus, we told our
oppressors, “Either we remain loyal Jews or we
will be nailed to the stake.”

This holy chutzpah is one of the factors which
helped us to survive as a people during the
centuries of our exile, as it gave us the
strength and the courage to be different. For
example, during the Christian Crusades the Jews
were offered the choice, “The cross or death!”
Entire communities of Jewish men and women
refused to accept Christianity, and they died
proclaiming, “Hear O Israel, Hashem is our God,
Hashem is One!”

There is an ancient piyut - poetic prayer
- which is chanted during the Festival of Succos
known as Om Ani Chomah. It refers to the
courage, fortitude, and holy chutzpah of the
Jewish people during the long and painful exile,
and the following words of this piyut became
especially meaningful to the Jews who were
persecuted in Christian Europe:

A nation that declares, “I am a wall!”
Brilliant as the sun - yet exiled and displaced;
likened to a palm tree - yet murdered for Your
sake and regarded like a sheep for slaughter.
Although scattered among her provocateurs, she
hugs and cleaves to You and bears Your yoke -
unique in declaring Your Oneness.

At what stage of our history did we develop holy
chutzpah? According to our tradition, this
chutzpah began with our Patriarchs (Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob) and our Matriarchs (Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah). A source for this
idea can be found in the prophecy of the Gentile
Prophet Balaam, when he viewed Israel camping in
the wilderness on their way to the Promised
Land. Through his prophecy, Balaam became aware
of the chutzpah which gives Israel the courage
to be different, and he proclaimed:

“For I see it from the top of the rocks, and I
behold it from the hills; this is a people that
will dwell apart and not count itself among the
nations.” (Numbers 23:9 – Translation of Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch)

Rabbi Hirsch explains the above prophecy in the
following manner: In the ideal future, Israel
will live as a separate people in its own land
in order to accomplish its inner mission;
moreover, it will not strive for greatness by
trying to become a national entity which seeks
to impress other national entities with its
power.

The Prophet Balaam proclaimed that he was
viewing Israel from “the top of the rocks” and
“from the hills.” According to Midrash Tanchuma,
these words have a deeper meaning, as the
“rocks” are a metaphor for our Patriarchs, and
the “hills” are a metaphor for our Matriarchs.
Based on the Midrash, Rashi explains that Balaam
was looking at “their origin and at the
beginning of their roots” – the source of their
strength.

Through the combined insights of the Midrash,
Rashi, and Rabbi Hirsch, we can understand the
above verse in the following manner:

Through the strength that they get from
their Patriarchs and Matriarchs, they have the
chutzpah and the courage to dwell apart and not
count themselves among the power-seeking
nations.

Our forefathers and foremothers had the chutzpah
to take a separate and holy path in a world
which had lost its way. In this spirit, the Book
of Genesis (14:13) refers to our forefather
Abraham as the Ivri – the Hebrew. This
word can also mean, “on the other side”; thus,
the Midrash offers the following comment on
Abraham being an Ivri:

“Rabbi Yehudah says: All the world was on one
side, but he was on the 'other side.” (Genesis
Rabbah 42:8)

Abraham had holy chutzpah! We, his descendants
have this chutzpah, and so do the sincere
converts who join us through accepting the faith
and path of the Torah. A convert needs to have
chutzpah in order to join our people, for in a
world of several billion people who do not share
our beliefs, we are only a fraction of one
percent of the population. Yes, we are a small
people, and as current events remind us, we
still have many enemies in the world;
nevertheless, through the power of holy
chutzpah, we can fulfill our destiny to become a
vessel for the Divine light and thereby become a
“light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

Shalom,

Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen (See below)

Related Teachings and Comments:

1. Another word in our tradition for chutzpah or
boldness is az. This word is related to
oz – a Hebrew term for strength, and
az refers to the strength to be different in
order to follow one’s convictions. The Talmud
mentions that Israel is the “az among the
nations” (Beitzah 25b).

2. The Mishnah states in the name of the sage,
Yehudah ben Tema:

Be az as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift
as a deer, and strong as a lion to carry out the
will of your Father in Heaven. (Pirkei Avos
5:23)

Be az as a leopard – Although modesty
is a recommended trait, there are occasions when
one must have the boldness of the leopard when
doing certain mitzvos or defending certain
spiritual truths which are not popular in the
greater society.

3. The late Abbie Hoffman, a Jewish radical of
the 60's generation, described being Jewish in
the following manner: “I see Judaism as a way
of life. Sticking up for the underdog. Being an
outsider. A critic of society. The kid in the
corner that says the emperor has no clothes on.
The Prophet.” (Tikkun, July-August 1989)

Abbie Hoffman did not have the benefit of a
Torah education which would have made him aware
of the Torah’s holy path to “tikun olam” – the
repair of the world; nevertheless, he sensed in
his soul that the Jewish people had the chutzpah
to be an “outsider” in a corrupt and unjust
world.